Sunday, October 30, 2011

Friend time!

Summarizing last blog: Valencia was awesome! We arrived at our casa in Madrid around 1.30 a.m., so that was pretty late when you realize that we supposed to have classes the next morning at 9. So we decided to skip university all together that day and focus somewhat on our homework.
Later that day something way nicer was about to happen. Xander, a friend of mine from Holland would arrive at Barajas Airport. He arrived in the afternoon, so I went with him to his hostel in Calle Fuencarral, which is in the heart of Madrid. A great location to start exploring the city! After dropping of his stuff, we went to Parque Retiro to enjoy the ‘ever-shining’ sun.
In the evening Kelly made some delicious Spanish tapas for us. My friend cannot say that that that was not a warm welcome.

I still had classes that week so I decided to follow some on Tuesday. University is also something that needs to be done. Around noon Xander and I went for a touristic tour around Madrid. I had to show him the highlights of Madrid so we went to Sol, Plaza Mayor, Plaza Cibiles, Puerta de Alcala and last but not least Palacio Real. He thought it is really cool to see the city for real now. That evening he again came over for dinner, this time something really Dutch.

Wednesday we enjoyed an evening of fun at Parque de la Montaña, where Templo Debod is located. That is a traditional gathering place for botellons.
Me, Kelly and our friends had dinner at the park; everybody had to bring something to eat and to drink so that we could have some kind of tapas dinner. Furthermore, we watched the sunset, which is astonishing from that park. Having dinner outside is much more common than in the Netherlands, not only due to the fact that the weather is much nicer. Spaniards feel it is important to be among family and friends and enjoy good food. A lot of money is spent on food in Spain; it takes an important place in a Spaniards life.

The next day our Swedish friends organized a ‘Swedish Party’. That meant a lot of Absolut Vodka, Daim sweets and Ballerina cookies, all Swedish drinks and foods. Not only celebrating a nice night at their house, but also at Madrid. We went to Joy to finish the night. It was a night to never forget! We Dutchies immediately said that we would organize a ‘Dutch Party’ soon.

Friday Xander and I went for a walk around Parque Rio, one of the most beautiful parks I have ever seen. The weather still being fantastic, we walked and talked and we enjoyed the weather. Kelly joined us later after she had been inline skating that afternoon.

That Saturday there already was a foretaste of the Dutch Party; we and our friends gathered at Marlies’ house to bake salty pancakes, something which is only known in Holland. In most countries it is only eaten as dessert. Our Swedish friends really enjoyed this Dutch meal and that made us happy. Also we went to Sala Heineken, the club to be at the moment here in Madrid. Techno and Indie music is played there, which I really enjoy. But I seem to almost be the only one of our group who enjoys that as they wanted to leave early.

Sunday my friend had to go back to Holland again which was sad. Saying goodbye is never a nice thing to do. He enjoyed his vacation here and that is what mattered most. He even said that he perhaps would come over again haha. The rest of the day I had to study for the upcoming exam on Monday, which turned out to be pretty hard and I resembled nothing of the matter we had to study. So the whole class complained about the difficulty of the exam.

Tuesday and Wednesday were relaxing days. We hardly did anything and we decided to enjoy the sun while it still could. To do that, we went to Parque Juan Carlos I where there was a possibility to rent a bike. But we were not the only ones who thought so as there was a queue in front of the bike rental shop. So we decided not to rent a bike and instead walk around the park.

That Thursday Jennifer, a friend of Kelly, would arrive in Madrid to enjoy the city and of course the weather. She arrived in the evening so Kelly picked her up and we had dinner at our place. We made tapas again, which is the best way to start with Spanish food. We also went to Templo Debod to have a small botellon. We were however almost the only ones with that idea so the park was deserted.

Friday we had to do the city tour again. Every friend has to be shown the highlights of Madrid so we went through the city. Also Parque Rio is something everyone has to see when visiting Madrid. If the weather is great, you can enjoy your day at the water sprinkles. That is so cool! That evening Kelly took her out for dinner for her birthday.
We made some Spanish friends in class which is really, really awesome. These Madrileños know a lot more about cool places to go out or to have dinner. That night they invited us to go out with them. We wanted to get into a bar where the sangria was cheap, but we had to wait too long so we decided to buy our own bottle and sit somewhere on the street. That’s why I love botellons: you can sit wherever you want with your friends and drink. That is awesome!

That weekend it was Sala Heineken time again. This time, the music was a bit harder and therefore not everybody was happy with it. Despite the fact that nobody like the music, it was still 5 a.m. when we were back home. Sunday we could sleep out late so that was exactly what we did. We decided to have ‘breakfast’ at 100 Montaditos. You can have a bocadillo and a jarra de cerveza (half a litre beer) for only 2 euros. That are real student prices so that is a good tip for future students in Madrid!

For now it is: Hasta luego!

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